2025.08.22 (Vrindavan Today News): As the Yamuna River swells into its ancient, ferocious form every two to three years, the people from the low income group, who built their house on the floodplain pack up their belongings and flee. Their homes, built cheaply on the river’s floodplains (known locally as khadar), are repeatedly swallowed by the floodwaters.
This recurring nightmare reflects not just nature’s fury but also the collapse of governance. Despite a total prohibition on construction in the Yamuna floodplain, sprawling colonies have mushroomed across Mathura and Vrindavan over the past two decades. The result: hundreds of houses now sit in the direct path of floods, leaving residents trapped in cycles of loss and displacement.
A System Totally Collapsed
The Mathura-Vrindavan Development Authority (MVDA), the Municipal Corporation, and the Irrigation Department all share responsibility for preventing construction on the river’s land. In theory, the system is clear:
MVDA is tasked with stopping unauthorized colonies. Its assistant and junior engineers are assigned zones to monitor construction.
Municipal Corporation must act if illegal encroachments occur within its jurisdiction.
Irrigation Department is responsible for rural areas and the riverbed itself.
In practice, however, each department has turned a blind eye, often passing the responsibility to another. The MVDA “looked away,” the Municipal Corporation “failed to notice,” and the Irrigation Department dismissed cases as “not their responsibility.”
Meanwhile, land mafias freely carved out colonies on the fertile khadar, selling plots at throwaway prices. Ordinary residents, lured by affordability, bought and built houses—only to discover later that they had constructed their lives on sand.
The Game of Notices
Whenever questions arose, officials resorted to a predictable ritual: the issuing of notices. Instead of preventing or demolishing illegal construction, the MVDA repeatedly issued warnings long after colonies had already been established. By the time the river rose and water reached people’s doorsteps, the “notice-notice game,” as locals call it, had become little more than a bureaucratic excuse.
Even sealed properties resumed construction. In October last year, despite official seals, building work continued in Vrindavan. Only then were Assistant Engineer Ashok Choudhary and then-Junior Engineer Dinesh Gupta served “show-cause” notices—a rare instance of officials facing even nominal accountability.
The Colonies in Question
Today, more than two dozen colonies stand illegally on the Yamuna floodplains:
Mathura City: Ganesh Tila, Ganesh Colony, Ganesh Kunj, Girraj Vatika, Radha Vatika, Ganesh Vatika, among others.
Vrindavan: Hudang Nagar, Yamuna Nagar, Mohini Nagar, Shyam Nagar, Keshav Nagar, Krishna Vihar, Shri Ji Vatika, Yugal Vihar, Bhakti Nagar, Chamunda Colony, and more.
Each of these names represents not just a settlement but a symbol of administrative negligence.
Over the years, several MVDA officers have been directly responsible for preventing such encroachments but failed to act. Assistant Engineer Ashok Choudhary, Junior Engineer Sunil Rajouria are currently responsible to prevent construction activity on the Yamuna Floodplain.
AE Sunil Agrawal, Rajeshwar Singh, Rajiv Maheshwari, Nagendra Chauhan; JE Dinesh Gupta, Sunil Singhal, Manish Tiwari, S.D. Paliwal were the MVDA engineers in the past, who simply overlooked the illegal occupancy on the Yamuna Flood Plain and allowed the construction on it. Despite their tenure, none effectively halted illegal construction.
Caught amid worsening floods, authorities are now scrambling to show action:
Arvind Dwivedi, Secretary, MVDA: “We are continuously filing FIRs and carrying out demolitions. We are also writing to the Irrigation Department.”
Saurabh Singh, Additional Municipal Commissioner: “We are removing encroachments wherever found. Previously also we have cleared several. Still, the responsibility for stopping construction lies with the MVDA. We are putting up hoardings urging people not to build.”
Yet, such statements sound hollow against the backdrop of decades of willful neglect.
When the River Remembers
The Yamuna, long restrained and polluted, is now reclaiming its space. As the river surges, the illegally built colonies find themselves underwater. For families of low income group, what once seemed like affordable housing has become an endless cycle of displacement.
The broader question looms large: when institutions collapse, mafias thrive, and citizens are left to bear the consequences. The Yamuna floodplains, once nature’s breathing space are now choked with brick and mortar. And as the river remembers its ancient course, the recklessness of human encroachment stands brutally exposed.
